Midlands Championship Halter Show

West Shires Alpaca Group would like to thank everyone who attended the Midlands Championship Halter Show yesterday.

Thank you to all the exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers and the supporting cast of ‘non-judging judges’ in the audience! 😁

A huge thanks goes to Liz Barlow and Shirley Bettinson for their excellent judging, working their way calmly and professionally through over 120 alpacas and keeping up their good humour, despite being kicked hard several times, throughout what was a long day.

We hope you enjoyed your day, and look forward to doing it all again next year!

PS. Don’t forget West Shires will be ‘back in action’ next June for the Royal Three Counties Show, why not enter!

Basic Husbandry

Thank you to everyone that joined us at Abberley Alpacas on Saturday (19th October) and a special thanks to Jay, Hilary and Ginnie for sharing their knowledge and experience for a very informative and valuable Alpaca Husbandry session. We hope everyone took away something useful from this afternoon. 

See you next at the Midlands Championship on the 9th November…..if anyone is available on the Friday 8th and would like to help we do still need some manpower for setup, all offers gratefully received!

Fleece – what does it all mean?

We all had a great day yesterday at Pure Alpacas courtesy of Hilary and Jay.

People brought their fleece with show result cards and histograms and Jay meticulously explained what it all meant – along with various history lesson opportunities along the way!

When we were done with looking at fleece it was time for a delicious barbecue – it was noted that lots of people went back for seconds…..and thirds… 😊

In summary – great weather, great company, a great learning experience and a fantastic spread to round it all off! 

West Shires Alpaca Group Craft Show 2019

The inaugural West Shires Alpaca Group craft show was held at the Royal Three Counties Show.  We wanted to showcase alpaca fibre, giving the public the full picture starting with the animals in the halter show, then the shorn fleeces in the fleece show, how the best fibre can be used as demonstrated by members of the Worcestershire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers who were spinning and weaving and finally a display of the huge variety of items that can be made with alpaca fibre in the craft show. 

We were very pleased with the 50 entries we received in the four categories and our judges had a tough time deciding on the winners of each class and the best entry in each category.  The public showed a lot of interest and admiration of the display of craft show entries and the demonstrations by the guild members, many being inspired to start a new craft and make use of alpaca fibre.

Our congratulations go to all the entrants, the results are here but special congratulations go to the winners of each category:

Spinning                             Julia Berry              

Weaving                             Anne Cheston

Knitting/Crochet            Julia Berry

Felting                                 Nicola McDowell

Royal Three Counties Show Update

We’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to all entrants at the 2019 Royal Three Counties Alpaca Fleece, Halter and Craft show – we had a terrific show this year with a record entry.

Whilst the weather was variable, the energy and enthusiasm inside the tent was fantastic. Thank you to the judges Rob Bettinson and Jo Bridge for their sterling efforts, and for their hard work and stamina – it was no small task! 😊. Last but definitely not least we also need to thank our small army of volunteers who worked tirelessly in the run up to and during the show.

Well done everyone, and don’t forget West Shires Alpaca Group will be back with the Midland Halter Show in November this year!🦙😎🦙

Royal Three Counties Show

Only two days to go! The West Shires Alpaca Group is looking forward to welcoming you to the Alpaca show at the Three Counties Showground.

Fleece judging is on Friday, the Huacaya halter show on Saturday and last but not least we have ‘Super Suri Sunday’ – it’s going to be a very busy few days!

Everybody has been working hard in the run up to ensure we have a smooth running show.

Hope to see you there! 🦙😊

Craft Show Judging & BBQ

On Sunday we had the WSAG Craft Show judging followed by a BBQ.

Whilst the weather was unkind, in true British BBQ fashion, we adapted, with Iain (aka ‘Grumpy Chef’) cooking under a gazebo while the rain poured down and everybody else took refuge inside.

It might have been wet, but our spirits certainly weren’t dampened, and we had a very good and well attended event with good food and good company.

Our thanks go to Julia & Adam Berry for kindly hosting this for us and to the expert judges drafted in from the wider craft world.

BBQ!

Following the craft show judging on Sunday 9th June we’re having a BBQ for members – an opportunity to chat ‘alpaca’ and to see the results of the craft show.  Food will be ready from 5pm. Hope to see you there !

Mill Visit

We had a great day yesterday at The Mill at Clivewood, kindly hosted by Caroline and Ian Oakes.  We were shown around their newly established mill that’s dedicated to processing alpaca fibre and saw all the machinery and processes involved in taking raw fleece and turning  it into finished yarn. Caroline also showed us around her weaving studio showing us her many looms and the different pieces of work she has in progress.

It was a very well attended event with around twenty members present. Our sincere thanks go to Caroline and Ian for inviting us into their home and putting on a lovely event (and feeding us so well too!) that was both informative and social.

DON’T FORGET – the next event is the Royal Three Counties Show at the Malvern Showground 14th-16th June. VOLUNTEERS WELCOMED to help set up and run the show. If interested please let us know at info@wsag.org.uk.

Mill Visit

Don’t forget the mill visit 11th May, 2pm at Clivewood Farm (SY4 5PR) where you’ll learn all about what happens to your crop when you send it to the mill.

You’ll also learn about what you can do to maximise the quality of your processed fibre and what you can do to make the lives of your friendly millers easy…. and keep them friendly 😊

You have fibre – they have the means to process it, come along and take a look!